Dear Reader,
The Indian government’s crackdown on foreign funding to NGOs, on the plea of instituting transparency, has led to an 87 per cent drop in external donations - from Rs 16,490 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 2,190 crore in 2019-20. Over 16,000 organisations have been affected. This arbitrary decision, Article 14 argues, has not only sought to “criminalise” civil society organisations but also deprive the poor of assistance when they need it most, in the midst of the pandemic.
India accounts for nearly 20 per cent of global stillbirths - foetus deaths during pregnancy. Mojo Story ground-reports from a village in Darbhanga in Bihar and finds that the state of affairs is alarming – with many women suffering multiple miscarriages - caused by widespread under-age marriages, early pregnancies and malnutrition.
As aspirant India hungers for growth and jobs, recent incidents of violent protests in UP and Bihar by the youth against what they see as inequities in the recruitment for jobs, signals a deep resentment as their quest for a livelihood has been belied. ThePrint argues that this deep yearning among India’s youth for jobs, and the political system’s inability to provide them, is alarmingly taking the shape of “the biggest risk for national stability and security”.
The Citizen reports from the ground on the Bishnoi community – “one of the oldest environmental activists” - in Rajasthan, with a long history of protecting the environment and living in harmony with nature’s creations. A tradition honed and nurtured over the years, enshrined almost as a ''religious duty''.
In the ‘Cleanest Cities of India’ series, Down To Earth does a deep profile of Kumbakonam, the temple city in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, for the innovative way in which it has turned non-biodegradable plastic waste into fuel for making cement, supported by volunteers and the citizens.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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